Tessa talks to Biz about Autism on the One Bad Mother Podcast

I had the pleasure of being a guest one the One Bad Mother podcast, published by Maximum Fun, to talk to Elizabeth “Biz” Ellis about autism. Specifically, some of the things she and her guest speaker said in episode 491, “Maybe I DO know best,” was problematic and incredibly hurtful about the autistic community. There was one line that felt downright offensive to me as an autistic individual.

So I sent Biz an email calling her in.

Biz responded beautifully. She demonstrated the tenants of the general OBM community; she thanked me profusely, took accountability and apologized for the hurtful impact, despite it being unintentional.

This led to me joining her on the One Bad Mother podcast as a guest speaker to discuss more in depth about autism and how she’s starting the journey with her child’s recent ASD diagnosis. Listen to it now!

Part 1

This is part 1 of 2 because I autisticly infodumped way more than one episode could handle. Yes, I’m very aware that I’m allergic to brevity.

Part 2

Biz and I continue our conversation.

As of this post, a transcript is not yet available. I’ll be updating this article with it when it is.

Continue down the Rabbit Hole

Continue learning about the topics we discussed in this episode of One Bad Mother with some of my other articles on this website.

1. Identity First Language vs Person First Language
2. Functioning Labels
3. Autism Self-Diagnosis is Valid
4. Getting a Clinical Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis is a Privilege
5. Hidden Disability Sunflowers

Resources

Because I can’t help myself, here are some more resources about autism.

1. My list of recommended Facebook groups to join
2. My list of recommended Facebook pages to follow
3. My list of recommended TikTok creators to follow
4. Think you might be autistic?
5. A starting point to learn about autism
6. My Autism Resource Hub

Sources

• One Bad Mother, “Episode 494: If I Had a Nickel for Everything I Don’t Know About Autism, I’d Be Rich! with Tessa Watkins” (Mar. 16, 2023). Maximum Fun.
• One Bad Mother, “Episode 495: If I Had a Nickel for Everything I Don’t Know About Autism, I’d Be Rich! with Tessa Watkins, Part 2” (Mar. 22, 2023). Maximum Fun.
• One Bad Mother, “Episode 491: Maybe I DO Know Best, with Dr. Norrine Russell” (Feb. 23, 2023). Maximum Fun.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on March 17, 2023, and was last reviewed on March 25, 2023. Added part 2 to the content.